Seed power.

• Autores: Charles Q. Choi
• Localización: Scientific American, ISSN 0036-8733, Vol. 297, Nº. 1, 2007, págs. 32-32
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The article discusses how wheat seeds use appendages controlled by changes in humidity to dig into soil. Each seed contains two bristly appendages called awns. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces discovered the awns are manipulated by cellulose fibrils to expand with humidity and contract with dryness. The awns allow seeds to propel themselves into soil to sprout. Researchers suggest wheat is optimized for humid conditions in the Fertile Crescent.